For me, the frustrating thing with this crop of AAAA types was the stupid and uneven way they were handled.
Engel has 1 MLB caliber tool, but his complete and utter lack of any sort of ability to hit made his 857 MLB PAs seem to be a waste of time. Him being scouted by the Doug Laumann Clown College, and [snicker] signed in the 19th round by a failed front office meant that he was likely never a prospect in the FIRST PLACE.
Tilson was actually scouted, drafted, and developed by a [then] successful and intelligent front office in St. Louis. Him being drafted in the 2nd round, and then his relative prospect status in a decent organization makes me more interested in what he might do with more of a look. His injuries aside, I can't understand why he's only had 123 PA leading into this season.
Cordell doesn't seem to have any PLUS tools, but then, he doesn't suffer from an abject and crippling LACK of any one tool that would prevent him from at least having more of a look. Though, again, his injury history has also sidetracked him hereto fore.
I suppose on balance, Engel's utter shittiness at hitting, yet him having 9,999 lives in the MLB roster was typical of a stupid organization like this one. In a rebuild, a team HAS TO get lucky with the odd AAAA type becoming a cromulent piece of the 25 man. Yet, 857 PAs were squandered on a 19th round no-hoper who could never fucking hit, when other, less flawed options are/were available. Were they too stupid to figure out that Engel isn't MLB caliber, or was it simply Tilson's/Cordell's health?
Who knows. And yes, I recognize that Tilson and Cordell and Delmonico are all probably AAAA nothing burgers. But, they have to find out if any of them can provide more value than Engel's one MLB caliber tool, rather than wasting PAs on players who don't have the requisite level of OVERALL ability.